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I attended a “press event” at Leigh Industries near beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia last week. They’re excited about some new products for this year, and I can see why. They are coming out with a new line of Leigh jigs and accessories. The new Super Jigs maintain the high quality that Leigh is known for. But they come in at a lower price point than previous models. They were able to redesign the jigs to lower the cost of production, providing great value in a top-notch product. I’ve seen the pre-production prototypes, and I think that the quality, capabilities, and pricing of these new jigs far surpass their competition.

Here are just a few of the things you can do with the Super Jigs:

• Variably Spaced Half-blind Dovetails
• Variably Spaced Through Dovetails
• Sliding Dovetails
• 5/16” and 5/8” Box Joints….that fit!
• Single Pass Half-blind dovetails – multiple sizes  

You won’t see the new Super Jigs on their web site just yet.  They don’t expect to start shipping them until mid-July. And the one you see here is shown with the optional $69 VRS vacuum attachment (available now). By the way, you’ll want to purchase the VRS — it’s available for ALL of Leigh’s jigs (even their original and older models). And it’s so practical for eliminating dust and chips. It’s amazing how it works. And the great thing is, it also provides a resting platform for your router.

There will be a 12″ ($199), 18″ ($259), and 24″ ($329) version of the Super Jig.  Street prices are expected to be lower. 

TRIVIA:  Do you know where the name “Leigh” comes from?  The founder of Leigh Industries, Ken Grisley, was born in “Leigh-on-Sea” in England.  Now you know.

McFeely’s (”The Square Drive Screw Authority”) is having a contest with the prize being a brand new Freud router. All you have to do is submit a photo of your old, worn out router.  It’s amusing to see all the entries and it’s definitely worth a few minutes of your time. Someone even submitted a photo of one of Doug’s favorite routers. You can see it here. It’s the one submitted by B. Aviano.

My first router was a Sears Craftsman. Back then, where I grew up, the only place you could buy a router was from Sears. I didn’t know any better. It worked okay. Until the time I was building a stereo cabinet for my brother-in-law out of birch plywood. I was routing ¾”-wide dados across the side panels. As I was halfway across the panel, I noticed the pitch of the motor changed. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. The bit had slipped out of the collet and routed clear through my panel!  At that point, I shut the lights out and went to bed. I couldn’t afford to buy new plywood, so I made a plug out of scrap and carefully fit it into place. To this day, you can hardly tell that there was a mistake.

Just remember — being a good woodworker isn’t just one who knows how to put something together. He’s also one that knows how to fix mistakes.

Get ready to spend some time in your shop this winter building these great projects. 

The Mobile Planer Stand is just the ticket for giving your portable planer a permanent home. It provides plenty of extra storage space and its outfeed support makes working with long stock a breeze.  And while we’re at it, we’ll give you a step-by-step approach for tuning up your planer to create perfect boards in a short time. Read the rest of this article »

Well, the face of woodworking is changing.  Technology has officially invaded the workshop.  It started in the 80’s with the Sears Craftsman digital radial arm saw.  Then it was lasers on the tools.  Next came CNC (computerized numerical control) machines like the ShopBot.  But it’s pricing is out of league with most home woodworkers. 

Now, Sears is making available the Craftsman CompuCarve Compact Woodworking Machine.  It’s a computer-controlled machine that’ll carve in 3-D on workpieces up to 14-1/2″ wide by 5″ high and almost unlimited length.  And it’s priced at around $1,900.  It requires a PC hookup.  Think of it as sort of like a 3-D printer for your computer.  Except you’re carving wood.

The CompuCarve is made by LHR Technologies who makes the CarveWright machine.  It was developed by a couple of NASA robotics engineers (wouldn’t you know it) who happen to love woodworking.

I can already think of uses for it like sign-making and carving panels for cabinet doors.

The Sears product page says it’s temporarily out of stock.  But there’s a link where you can have them email you when the product is available.

If you’ve tried to duplicate the trim profiles in an older home (over 100 years old) or repair antique furniture, it can sometimes be a challenge. Some of the old trim or furniture moldings can’t easily be duplicated with today’s router bits.  But there are a couple of ways to get around this problem.

First, Lee Valley just came out with a complete set of router bits that duplicate many of the cutter profiles that used to be available for the old Stanley “55″ plane. This plane was marketed by Stanley as “A Planing Mill Within Itself.” It had replaceable cutters of various profiles (“55″ of them) that you could use to create an endless variety of edge profiles. 

And if you can’t find one of those profiles that’ll work for you, Clark and Williams in Arkansas is still making traditional wooden molding planes the old fashioned way. If the traditional profiles won’t do the job, they’ll make a custom profile for you. Now admittedly it’s no small investment to own their planes, but if you do a lot of restoration or custom work, you’ll appreciate what they can do.

Larry Williams of Clark and Williams has been getting some press coverage lately. He was designated the 2006 Arkansas Living Treasure by the Arkansas Arts Council and the Department of Arkansas Heritage. You can read more about it here. 

There is no other magazine out there quite like ShopNotes. Through the years, I’ve used plans from ShopNotes to build workbenches, tool stands, and jigs for joining, detailing, and finishing my furniture projects. My first workbench was from Issue No. 24. I cut my first box joints using a jig from Issue No. 8. And I recently started building a spokeshave featured in Issue No. 84.

In the latest issue, due on newsstands in the next week or two, there are several projects I’m looking forward to, including:

Dream Shop Project: Table Saw Workcenter
Upgrade your contractor’s saw by building this custom workcenter. With a large worksurface, loads of storage, dust collection, and a handy built-in router table, you’ll be able to handle any project. Plus, there’s an optional table for extra outfeed support and even more storage.

Weekend Workshop: Heavy-Duty Workbench
This workbench has it all — a rock-solid base, large top, and it’s inexpensive to make. All you need are a few sheets of MDF, some “two-by” stock, and a handful of hardware.

Best-Built Jigs & Fixtures: Palm Router Fluting Jig
Adding flutes is a great way to dress up a project. This shop-made jig makes it easy to rout consistent flutes quickly.

Plus these great Departments: Readers’ Tips, Router Workshop, Materials & Hardware, Jigs & Accessories, Shop Shortcuts, In the Shop, Setting Up Shop, Mastering the Table Saw, Ultimate Garage, Q&A, & Sources

Doug has created a really enjoyable series of articles for building a project to fit a specific need. In this last installment, Doug completes the table top and attaches it to the base.

Read the rest of this article »